Jump in line
by Darrin Muffin
Summary: AU after fifth year! What better way to get Harry out of his mourning than more trouble? Meet a disowned vampire and a homeless werewolf .No Mary Sues. Read. Take a chance.
1. A disowned vampire

_**A/N: I am in need of a beta! That being said, please excuse **__**the mistakes that escaped me and thank you for reading this!**_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything!(From the Harry Potter verse, I mean)_

_**JUMP IN THE LINE**_

_**CHAPTER 1: a disowned vampire**_

"You, Stefan Matei Demeter, are disowned! You are to give up the family seal and forget any affiliations you might have had with the Demeters. You are, from this moment onward, nothing more than a stranger. You are to leave in an hours' time, if not so, you will be seen as an intruder and treated as such. From the moment you step outside the Mansion's gates your rights of entering it again will be revoked. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes."

"Be off."

Eyes brimming with tears the teenage boy spun on his heal and hurried towards his quarters. As fast as he could, he threw almost half of his clothes into a bottomless bag, shedding over what was left a blood tear. The formal clothes with his family's emblem sewed on the chest, although extremely dear will be of no use and his time was fast running out. He could not bear to be hunted in his own home, by his own family and so he planned to be gone as fast as possible. Next were shoes, inconspicuous jewelries and any unmarked weapons he could find. With a final and regretful look he turned and ran towards the exit opting for the least traveled hallways. Unfortunately, he was forced to pass through the entrance hall and he was pretty sure that there was bound to be a family member about. What he did not expect, however, was to find his whole family gathered and dressed in formal clothes as if they were expecting guests. Rising his head and angrily trying to wipe his blood tears from his eyes he whispered in a ruff voice to the backs of the vampires he called family for 17 years:

"Move."

Maybe they were surprised that he dared to speak that way, maybe it was the slight edge in his voice, maybe a hundred reasons, none of which he was certain about and even though he couldn't have cared less at that moment in time, he would ponder about it later. What he did know was that they all turned and parted. And for the first time in his life, he could read all their thoughts. He heard them all, caressing whispers to his numbed mind. How imposing he looked standing there detached, how handsome he was in his black pants, with his black shirt, swaying elegantly as he walked, how exquisitely beautiful fell his deep read hair in his lemon green eyes, then, with a sudden prang of guilt, how truly innocent he proved to be when a tear of blood, the tear of the innocent slid down his ivory cheek and how useless it all was when he lapped the tear from his full lips reminding them that there was no going back. He felt all their remorse and it didn't matter. It was too little, too late.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do with himself or where he was supposed to go, but he tried to keep what little dignity he had left. One more step and he would be out of their life. Forever. He found himself dizzy. Just a little bit dizzy was all he will admit to himself afterwards and juuuust a little bit reluctant. Maybe a bit rash also…Maybe for just a second he had wanted to turn and tell them to go ahead, to kill him, because life without them was no life for him. But his survival instinct won. He made the step and in no time he had disappeared in the darkness of the night.

The minute he wanted to start running he saw a person just…appear in the street. He instinctively buried himself more deeply in the shadows. Romania was the kind of country that taught you how delightful and useful paranoia was. The person was quickly followed by others. Black cloaks and white masks, that was all he could say about them until one of them raised a stick and let out a complicated string of words in what he knew was Latin. That hit home. The person had soul magic and if he was not mistaken, he was trying to raise some sort of wall. The young vampire cursed his lack of interest in studying the subject. He reasoned that those were probably the guests his family…a…the others were waiting for and the fact that he had no desire to get caught in any plan of theirs. Not anymore. It was their problem.

Feeling a bit better, it was NOT his problem, he slowly made his way around them, keeping close to a nearby fence and, for once, blessing the human's weak senses. He started running. Ten, twenty, thirty meters… freedom was near.

!BUMP!

"What the…..?Oh, hell no, another wall?"

He sensed somebody behind him and turned around just in time to see a silver stake being fired from one of those special made sticks men carried. He dodged but was not lucky enough to escape unharmed as the stake pierced his left shoulder. His balanced lost, he focused on releasing all his energy before the silver made him fry himself.

"What are you doing?"

"He's a vampire…I…"

"You are a fool! What kind of allies are dead allies?"

"Well…technically they are already…"

"No, they are not!"

"I just couldn't help it… he's a vampire!"

"Really?!"

The redhead was slowly growing tired of releasing a constant amount of power and was starting to think that burning alive wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Why isn't he blazing?"

"He is!…not?"

"No…"

"He is an ancient! I have to get rid of that spike. "

The vampire saw hazily as a man with long black hair fixed his grip on the stake then pulled it out. He thought he heard him mumble about ancient vampires, Romania, big families, stupidity. All he knew was that he was slipping and his world was getting darker by the second. He chuckled. He really was a pathetic vampire…

_**A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review! **_


	2. A captured werewolf

_**A/N: Still no beta, constructive criticism much appreciated!Thank you for reading :)!**_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Harry Potter verse._

**JUMP IN LINE **

**Chapter 2: A captured werewolf**

They were everywhere. Leaves, ice cubes, spikes and fire balls were flying all around. Branches were death traps crawling and rain was pouring heavily. And it was all useless. All absolutely useless. They had soul magic, they had invisible and brightly coloured shields, they had beams of strange light and although she knew everything about soul magic, her family didn't. Apparently the curiosity now saved the cat, but this cat didn't really give a damn anymore.

She could do very little to save her family and so all her knowledge was in vain. What if she shouted and shouted to them to try to get the sticks out of their hands or to dodge the beams, not hit them…she was the rebel and the smallest one. She was not supposed to possess knowledge above theirs and as such she was not to be listened to. The clan was slowly and futily hitting their way to death and she will never see them again and she will never return to her small house and to her much-hated small bed. Oddly enough, while standing there amid chaos and destruction she could not imagine anything sweeter or better than the shabby house and the cracking bed. It was then that she discovered that you can indeed miss furniture, that you can love what you think you have always hated and that you can hope and will hope even if death has you caught in her web.

Or maybe giving up just wasn't for her and maybe she had all those weird notions about dieing with dignity and about going down fighting. All that she acknowledged was a desire to fight harder, to move faster, to do more. And she did.

When she laughed after she took down two soul wielders she realized that she had passed into some sort of dementia and that for her, there was no turning back. Somehow detached, she realized that it was a great loss, crushing, but, at the same time, she could not deal with all that it entailed. If she could give her family even a couple of minutes more, be it by killing opponents or by drawing their attention to her, she will do it. The loss seemed a good thing, she was so far gone that it didn't even matter if she died in the end. Her family wasn't gone. They were not broken, not yet anyway, and they could return to normal. Her hope was that there was still hope for them.

Suddenly a lash of red light landed on five cornered cousins. They were gone. And lashes were becoming popular. Everywhere she looked stripes of crimson were kidnapping her family. From the corner of her eye she saw the threat heading for her prone body. It had the effect of snapping her into motion and with a vicious though created from the very depths of her soul she made a flash of lighting strike it. Who said only wand wielders could use their emotions?

She whipped her head around and bared her teeth towards her attacker making her eyes turn amber in the process. Another lash and this one she managed to stop without the special effects. Her situation was not a good one. It never is when one is surrounded by enemies whipping transporting lashes. But, if they were so many of them concentrated on her, then she could buy some time for her pack. Or…she was the only one left, No! She was not thinking that, she could not and will not. Right then they must be taking advantage of the distraction and they were surely running and escaping to their freedom and normal life. That she _could_ think and _would_ think, because anything else was just too much. She felt oddly relieved when she heard them speak:

" Leave the others! Catch the feisty one! She makes more than all their pathetic asses."

So there were others left! She grimly chuckled thinking how twisted it was that she was happy when twenty stick wielders headed her way, effectively blocking all ways of escape. But others could escape …and it was this hope that almost literally gave her wings and she started to jump through the looping lashes and approach one side of the circle. It was getting harder and harder with their aim getting better, the hoops smaller and her muscles more than tired.

As it rarely happens, hope presented itself in the form of puff-ing sounds that distracted her attackers. Without looking at the cause of the disturbance, wisely choosing to focus her power on the closest man she lashed out using her foot and he satisfyingly crumbled down. Three high kicks later, she had successfully breached the circle and turned to run… Unfortunately, the cause of her advantage, the disturbance that offered her the much-needed distraction, was located between her and her freedom and it was in the form of almost thirty robed men with sticks pointing her direction.

"Shit." This could not be happening!

The newcomers headed towards her and she entered her stand, waiting. Worriedly, she noticed that her vision was becoming blurry and her limbs incredibly hard, but she held on. She was not giving up. Dropping to the ground she avoided a yellow jet of light and rolling to the side she produced a fireball. Tried to produce a fireball was a better way of putting it because nothing came out of her outstreached hand and she felt the despair creeping in. But it didn't matter that she could not use her elemental powers, she will punch and kick until all the others were safe. While raising, with a lot less agility and grace that she had expected and an infinitely less than she would have wished, she risked a look around her. Baring the scary people with sticks, she was alone.

That was it, they all escaped or were captured and only her fate remained to be decided. Right. She now had to fight for herself. Why that didn't sound more encouraging she did not know. It was as if it was the end but it was only the beginning of the fight for her life. Somehow her goal was accomplished and she craved rest. She swung a fist almost blindly to an enemy coming from behind, effectively bringing both of them down. She guessed that she got him in the temple and he lost consciousness, but she couldn't tell for sure. Her eyesight was so blurry that she couldn't see anything but shapes and her body viciously protested against any movement. But she raised and swayed away from another jet of light. She thought she saw somebody getting closer and she stepped towards him to prevent him from using his wand. But the leg refused to listen and she barely realized she was falling. Then blackness came.

_**A/N: Thank you for reading, please review!**_


	3. A meeting

_**A/N: Still no beta, constructive criticism much appreciated!Thank you for reading :)!**_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Harry Potter verse._

**JUMP IN LINE **

**Chapter 3: A meeting**

"Sooo… head count! " a falsely cheerful Bill Weasley got out " Treaty with vampires AND/OR werewolves… aa…blank, stop enemies from having said creatures on their side …aa … blank again, one seriously injured ancient vampire, not on the list, but check anyway, one passed out, believed to be werewolf, not on the list, but let's put a check there just for the hell of it, 'cause we managed to get THAT!"

" Bill!"

"What mum, did I miss something?! Oops I did! Said creatures earlier mentioned currently reside in CAGES in our basement. Sorry about forgetting that, my bad!"

"Bill!"

"What?!"

" You will not talk to your headmaster this way, mister!"

" Geez…and here I thought I could not talk to my parents like that! Way to go mum… reinforce authority, reduce parent influence! Do you want me to cheer for that? I'm no girl but I bet I can manage a few notes, just for this gathering!"

"Bill!!"

"You've decided about thirty years ago that 'Bill' is gonna be my name. No point in acting all enthusiastic about it now."

"William Weasley!"

"That's it! You remembered!"

"What's happening to you son?"

A pause.

"Oh dad…" with a sigh, Bill sat tiredly at the table." I don't know if you'll understand the magnitude of this and I guess I'm just pissed off that I can't explain properly, that I can never really make you understand… and even I don't have the full view."

"When one does not know where to start, the beginning is usually the best option."

Bill aimed a glare at the headmaster. He weakly raised his hands in defense under the scorching look. The glare kept its heat until the headmaster adopted a hilarious face, one torn between defending himself and throwing his own glare to a chuckling Tonks. That made the oldest Weasley child calm considerably in favor of seeing a different pair spar.

"Something funny my dear?"

And as these things usually go, she wasn't aware that she had been so obvious.

"Huh?"

"Nymphadora, what seems to be the problem?"

The chuckling ceased and a glare took its place. Dumbledore sure received a lot of those in his old years, he might be losing his charm.

"Just you, _Brian_, trying to make a hot-tempered man enjoy your twisted ideas of wit and wisdom."

"Pardon, my dear?"

She smirked noting the lack of first name in his elegant phrase. Who knew the man could get so irked by the name 'Brian'?

"Redheads, no-no" she said, slowly shaking her head along with waving her index finger.

Bursts of laughter followed the announcement effectively drowning out the headmaster's sigh: "Young people these days…"

"Becoming serious again…"announced the always proper Shackelbot

"Urgh, Kinsley!"

"Shut it, Charlie!"

More laughter, but the atmosphere was steadily heading back to being tense and something akin to despair and helplessness was again filling all their hearts.

"The problem is, we don't know what we are dealing with. We only have a few easily deduced hints about our situation. What we have can be extremely valuable… only we don't know what that is. Let's take what we know. From speed, appearance and Remus' sense of smell we deduced that the above mentioned werewolf put a silver stake through a vampire's shoulder. From the lack of screaming and cremation we have deduced that again, said werewolf, put a silver stake through an ancient vampire's shoulder. " Bill regained his line of thought but an edge to his voice could still be felt towards the end. "What do we know about ancient vampires?"

"They are not instantly killed by silver" observed Severus. His meekness was surprising, but even he had to admit that giving his time spent with the goblins and his extreme tolerance for all the creatures, he was the best man for the job. Lupin could not be trusted to be unbiased and Charlie rather lacked experience with moderately tame, humanoid creatures.

"Why?"

"We don't know."

"Any hypothesis?"

"No."

"Then this we could find out from him."

"Anything else?"

"He might be young…"

"Pardon, Tonks?"

"Well, he looked pretty young, and ancient vampires can very well be young **and** powerful. They are vampires born from other ancients and so the millennia-old wisdom is said to be passed on in the form of powerful instincts."

"Was this ever confirmed?"

"No Remus, but it does make sense. They are also immune to light and that may be because of a genetic trait. Vampires turned through bite are not able to see sunlight whereas born ones have no problem…except minor sunburns after prolonged periods of time."

"Great Bill! Throw in that they are invincible and make me happy!"

" I know about the natural hatred between werewolves and vampires, but you have to get it together!"

"Get it together?! These are ancient vampires we are talking about!"

"You already knew of their existence, Lupin."

"I thought they were myths, _Severus_! So did you!"

"We all did, but-"

"Hey! Does this mean that all the vampires under the Death Eater's shield were ancient vampires?"

All heads snapped towards Tonks.

"What? They live with their families, I just thought that…" her voice faded and she squared her shoulders meeting their glares.

"Nymphadora…" her glare intensified " I think we all liked to avoid talking about the bright pink elephant in the room. I believe that is a popular saying; which I find amazingly accurate. But you, of course, are right."

And suddenly it was all worse. And things were not about to get any better.

"Albus, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't shields that keep humanoid creatures in, consensual?"

Dumbledore's eyes lowered to the table.

"Yeah Dad, but I don't see why…oh. Oh, no…"

"They were aware of their presence and agreed to it. They were expecting it. A treaty must have been signed." Kinsley deadpanned.

Silence. Deafening silence.

"But why was the child left out?"

Was that hope speaking with the voice of Molly Weasley?

"These families are supposed to de everything together" she risked a glance toward her own big family, clearly showing where the idea occurred " wouldn't signing a treaty be important? Does it still apply to him if he wasn't there? Is it possible that we have an ancient vampire that has no allegiances?"

A pregnant pause. Hope.

"If that's so, we're about to screw up the few chances that we have."

"Why?"

"We're holding our advantage **caged**, do you think he'll mind?"

"Very good point Molly and Charlie, though less foul language would be preferable" Charlie shrugged, showing just how remorseful he felt, It was just like dragons. Powerful beings hate to be caged. The grateful smile Bill sent his way made him understand that he had read his brother's thoughts and made him feel a surge of happiness. Making his older brother proud will always make him happy and that would never change.

"...everus and Molly would be so kind as to make our **guests'** stay a bit more comfortable. Enlarge the cages and put them **both **in beds. In fact, try to make them more like rooms bar the walls and keeping the bars and the protection cage. We simply cannot let them fully out without knowing what they are capable of or, at least, what are their thoughts on the war."

The older Weasley brothers and several members of the Order looked on disapprovingly but said nothing realizing that he had a valid point. The time spent waiting for their return consisted in various members changing glances from time to time in the awkward silence. Mrs. Weasley's arrival accompanied by the dark professor made them almost sigh with relief.

"What do we know about the other guest?"

"She's a girl." was Tonks' dry reply.

"And she's preeetty!" Charlie laughed batting his lashes, trying , and failing to adopt a dreamy look.

"Oh hormonal brother of mine, I wouldn't if I were you."

"Why not?" pouted Charlie.

"Just hear this.She was fighting the Death Eaters when we arrived. She kept jumping through port-spells, she knocked out cold four guys with four very accurate kicks, dodged Albus' _proxima stunner_ and caught a DE that was coming from behind with a punch to his temple. She must have been at it for quite some time 'cause she looked drained. She was the only one standing. My guess is that she was covering for somebody, her pack probably. She was amber eyed so she must be some kind of werewolf" Lupin snorted 'There's only one kind!' " Then you would like to explain why she was not affected by the were-curse we found on that alley? The one that almost made you change into your little furry friend and you had to leave and join Severus to talk to the vampires you hate so much? Anyway, she collapsed with the guy that she punched, then she still managed to get up and practically lost her balance in the opposite direction of Dad's _stunner_ 'cause that can't be called dodging! When I tried to stun her she just…fell forward. And that was it. She was out."

"You love her already!" cried Tonks with glee.

"You should have seen her… actually, you were there. You saw her."

"Only for a few seconds, then I was just a little worried about the Death Eaters."

"Well, most of them were already down and the rest left afterwards."

"With very little help from you, I might add."

"Yeah, about that, I analyzed the curse, I think I can manage to create a spell that will alert Remus if **it**'s present. It should work through port keys and apparition. So you know where you land."

"Aah, you were working… How the hell did you manage both?"

"My dear Tonks, I always think better if there's a girl kicking ass nearby."

"Men!"

"I still don't understand, why should I stay away. From what you're saying, I should do the opposite."

"Yeah, but imagine if she thinks you cheated on her…"

"Hey, raven hair, dark eyes, pale skin, toned body and dangerous. What more can a guy want?"

A few people looked towards Severus who had an eyebrow lifted. Charlie's eyes widened: that description matched one other person, in the room.

" DON'T even think about! Don't even GO there! Just, don't! Don't!" he managed horrified.

His face and lost attitude managed to steal a laugh out of Snape and a lot more from the others. After they got over the fact that Snape had just laughed.

"So, we are going to have to wait until she wakes up. Nothing much we can do for her."

"Let's just hope they don't wake up hungry…"

A shudder went through the crowd.

"At least we know there's no treaty. They were clear evidence of a fight and those port-spells could have taken many."

"Yeah… many strong creatures, right into Voldemort's hand."

"Though I really think we should start considering what they eat, I'd rather they didn't go into a blood lust and kill each other. It would be quite contra-productive."

"Always the charmer, Sevvy!" murmured Tonks

"Good thing I find the idea of addressing somebody 'Nymphy' degrading."

"Oh, you!"

He just smirked.

"Next one to talk, offers as blood donor for the vampire!" shouted Bill.

Many eyebrows rose showing their owners' opinion about his maturity. Bill shrugged and titled his head invitingly suggesting that no matter how mature they thought it was, nobody was speaking. After five minutes Lupin cracked:

"Oh, this is too much!"

Bill smiled wolfishly. Lupin matched his smile: "Werewolf, can't feed vampire with me." Bill's smile remained in place and using his wand wrote a string of letters: "Not the vampire"

"Damn."

Dumbledore finally opened his mouth but at the same time Tonks shouted:

" No, Albus, really, you can't do that! I'll do it."

Dumbledore gave her a sly smile making Bill laugh: "He planned it! Oh, you are a predictable, easily-scared bunch!" Although he was going to do the same thing himself.

"Way to go, Papa Brian!" cheered Tonks dryly. So maybe she was a little bitter, so what?

"Nothing is going to happen to you, when they have woken up we will arrange for a safe blood transfusion."

"Let us hope it works that way."

"Severus!"

He just smirked.

"What about the young man's bag, Albus?"

" Definitely a muggle bag, although there may have been some alterations, we can't seem to open it."

"We?"

"The combined powers of your oldest son and mine have proven insufficient."

"Then it can not be opened. Not by a stranger."

"It may be possible, or we may just fall short in vampire magic."

"I don't wanna even think there is some other kind of magic."

"Good point purplehead."

"Thank ya!"

"I suppose it is the right time to conclude this meeting. Now we must let time decide."

"…"

"I see you are too tired to even glare, as I believe you haven't decided that you like 'bits' of wit and wisdom."

"…"

"Too tired then! Then let the day give you the dreams you have eluded last night, embrace them, as they are you. Enjoy the rest, and remember that there is still hope and that we will prevail." He looked around him and saw a great deal of eyes getting narrow. "Ah, you're not fully exhausted I see…"

"…!!"

He chuckled only half amused and carefully making his retreat.

"Oh well, this meeting is concluded. I wish you a restful sleep!" and he was gone.

Tonks groaned

"Somebody, quick, after him… trip him ...or something ... please…" she half-turned towards a mass of tired faces. The headmaster's words reminded them just how tired they all were. She groaned again "Nevermind."

"Well, I'm going to sleep. Let's hope we can catch up on our sleep today. " and with that Bill was gone.

"What he said." And Tonks was gone too.

"I'm out." So was Charlie.

One by one the members parted ways.

"Yeah…" Remus muttered to the now empty air and promptly fell asleep with his head on the table.

_**A/N: Thank you for reading, please review!**_


	4. A good day

_**A/N: Constructive criticism much appreciated!Thank you for reading :)!**_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Harry Potter verse._

**JUMP IN LINE **

**Chapter 4: A good day**

"Good morning!"

"Good evening!"

"…"

"…"

"Well, I just woke up so that makes it morning!" beamed Tonks.

"Morning is a part of the day, the first part of the day, the one before one o'clock. It has less to do with when you wake up than it has with the sun."

"Good afternoon it is then!"

"That again is…"Severus trailed off since the blue-haired girl had already left. Rising his eyebrow he followed her in the meeting room for the Order of the Phoenix a.k.a. the kitchen.

"Is everyone here?"

"Yes, Molly." answered dutifully her husband.

"Then let's eat first. We must try to hurry though because our guests are already awake. They seem quite disorientated so we have some time to enjoy a quick meal. We need our strength."

"Mum, it is kind of odd to eat now, I mean we have to see them, talk to them, see want they want, if they need something, we must make our intentions known, ask of their alliances, see if they tell the truth. Eating now seems…"Charlie trailed off.

"Wrong?" offered Bill.

"Yeah!"

"Nonsense dear. Sit down and eat."

Bewildered they all sat. It was always strange when they woke in time for dinner, and it always got a lot stranger.

"How are we going to do this?" was almost whispered by Tonks while she lazily ran her fork through the food, not really eating anything.

"Do what, dear?"

"Well, after I finish eating this delightful food after my heart's content, I must, in turn, be delightful food, although NOT for his heart's content!"

"Hey, that was good." laughed Charlie.

"Yes, you got quite close to Dumbledore."

"Thank you Charlie, Severus, but that was not the point."

"No talking at the table dear!"

"Are you serious?! These are real matters, we shouldn't be eating in the first place!"

"No buts!"

Tonks just stared at her stunned until Kinsley elbowed her. Seeing her wide eyes turn to him he mumbled:

"Apparently she's serious. Eat your vegetables."

After staring for another minute she started to feel uncomfortable and proceeded to eat. Take that, peer pressure!

Nobody said anything during the meal and the silence was not a comfortable one. Finally, to everyone's relief Dumbledore made his, of course, dramatic entrance and announced that they should head toward the magically added basement. He advised them to be natural but on their guard and once again stressed the importance of their actions. Lupin got a warning glance and it saddened the man that it was becoming a habit to receive them. Maybe he should try to control himself more.

Upon entering the room they saw through the bars of the cage what appeared to be a red-haired teenager arguing heatedly from his place on the bed with a dark-haired girl. The girl was tugging at the bars that separated them, obviously more violent than her companion. They stopped abruptly, the girl directing her stare towards them, stilling her hands on the bars and the boy draping an arm lazily on his raised knee, watching them through his bangs.

The room was extremely large with a high ceiling and cream coloured walls. From the white ceiling bars came down forming a cage with more bars separating it into two. The Order then analyzed the tall, tanned, black-eyed teenager who gripped two of the separating bars. Satisfied that she did not seem an immediate danger their eyes drifted towards the only furniture in the room, two four-poster beds: one which told the tale of someone hastily leaving it and the other, neater although it held a seemingly relaxed vampire who was leaning on the headboard. His eyes created a strong contrast with his almost crimson hair making it impossible not to notice his features. He was dashing, he was gorgeous, he was beautiful, elegant, mesmerizing. Probably tall, he had long limbs, which obviously held strength. His full lips curled in a smile were enticing and dizzying. What was a creature like that doing in a cage? There was no way something so beautiful, so precious should be held captive. There was no reason for it! It was ridiculous, vulgar even. Molly took a step forward to redeem herself. She lifted her wand but before she could utter the words, Severus had stopped her with a jerky movement.

"Snap out of it, woman!"

In a moment most of the charm was gone and he was just a handsome boy. Severus didn't look too well; he was supporting himself with a hand on the wall, the other gripping his forehead and taking long breaths. The Order was startled from looking between the vampire and the apparently injured member by a loud laugh.

"Told you, vampire." Was spoken between laughs by the girl and they were all grateful for translation spells. Said vampire merely slid down the headboard, bringing his hands up to rub his eyes. His breath was shallow and he seemed tired.

"Let's see you charm nine people, of different sex, without fully recovering from a mortal wound, wolf."

She just laughed. So she was a werewolf.

"What now?"

"Now nothing, they can understand us."

"I know. "

"You would." she admitted.

"English aren't they? Tell-tale accent. " He stopped looking at her for confirmation. At her nod, he continued, "I don't think they speak our language…"

"No."

"Then?"

"I think they put spells on themselves, I read something about that, somewhere. It translates for them."

He laughed and replied doubtfully: "Really?"

"No" she rolled her eyes "they have hidden dictionaries and they look through them like crazy while you are rubbing out your eyes. Honestly, shouldn't you be able to tell?"

He shot her a look and she held her hands up. He deepened his stare and she rolled her eyes, but stared back at him. After a few seconds she hurriedly glanced up at the others, lingering on Dumbledore and Severus. Her eyes flew back to him for a few moments then she headed towards her own bed and let herself fall on it.

"Maybe we should talk a bit more, Dumbledore?" whispered Remus warily. The Order flowed out of the room, the tails between their legs obvious. The last to get out was an unstable Severus who shot a silencing spell on the room.

"What was that?"

"What was what, exactly?"

"Everything. What happened in there?"

"Lupin, I thought you knew how vampires charms work…" Snape felt the need to add his two cents in.

"I do. But this was… as he said actually, there were nine of us, and we were both men and women and of different ages. And let's not forget that he should have been on fire just twelve hours ago."

"It was a very powerful charm, indeed. What concerns me is its resemblance with the _Imperius_. Vampire charms are meant to seduce the victims and can be easily resisted if one is already in love, but that should be all. I don't believe I have heard of any to control people's actions."

"What _concerns_ me is why you didn't break it Dumbledore."

"I did break it, Severus. I lacked the physical power to stop others to act on it. Although I could see easily through it, it effectively paralyzed my body against taking measures to stop it. I am not powerful in that department, I am, after all, just an old man."

In moments like these you realize that being told the truth is not all that cracked up to be. Silence descended on the group.

"What now?" mumbled a meek Lupin.

"I say go back in there and make introductions, ask if they need something to eat, if they are injured…" Arthur argued.

"Arthur?" The doubt could be read clearly in Kinsley's voice.

"Think about it, now is the perfect time, he is tired and I don't think that she can do something from afar, because she would have done so already. "

"Then let's get back in there." accepted the auror.

They reentered under the amused glances of the pair.

"Let us start again. Hello and welcome to England, I am Albus Dumbledore, Leader of the Order of Phoenix, an organization who opposes Voldemort and the Death Eaters. "

"Hello, as I cannot say good then awkwardly pause, I'm Stefan Matei. Or Stephan as you have it here." Answered the boy directly in English. No accent could be detected in his speech just a sweet lull to the words.

"Hello, I am Iulia Lupescu. You have Julie for Iulia." She answered also in English although she had a rough quality to her speech.

"Excuse me for the inconvenience, it is evening. A quarter past seven. It appears we have no need for the translation spells." And with that Dumbledore gave the signal to everyone to remove the spells, smiling at the twin nods he received in return. Things were getting better.

"Apparently, we have gotten on a wrong foot. " He paused allowing the vampire time to make his apology. No such luck. Stephan just kept his eyes steady on him, Julie, in turn, laughed.

"_You_ have gotten on a right charm, _we_ have woken up to the wrong side of a cage."

Bill and Albus exchanged glances.

" You must forgive us, we are at war."

"We have heard about your war." Replied the redhead. "I do not wish to be a part of it. Iulia?"

"Same here. I have my own problems to handle."

Stephan nodded and continued: "Does that answer your questions?"

"We have to believe your word?"

"And you are…?"

"Severus Snape."

"What would you suggest? Do you have a way of knowing we are not enemies?"

Veritaserum immediately crossed the potion master's head and strangely enough Stephan's face darkened.

"Do _you_? Sorry, I'm Charlie Weasley. "

"Oath of blood." shrugged Julie. " Although Vamps here might go berserk if he loses anymore blood."

"Come to think of it you look pale yourself." he replied cuttingly.

"I could never beat you even if I tried."

"The first step is admitting it."

"Don't get so excited. I was talking about being pale."

"Now you're in denial."

"And who again went bitter over admitting thirst?"

"Mongrel."

"Sucker."

"Let me guess" Tonks tried "You're old friends?"

They shared a look then answered in unison rather forcefully: "No!"

"What did you mean by berserk?"

She grinned widely: "Well Mr. Sna-"

"She meant bloodlust."

"Aren't you rude!"

"At least I'm not bitter again, darling." He shot her an arrogant smile, winning a snarl in return. The vicious sound had the effect of drawing out Lupin's wolf. His eyes turning amber were a winning argument and the fight stopped.

"And you are…?"

"I am Remus Lupin, Mr Matei."

"The question was followed by a 'what' not by a 'who'."

"I am a werewolf."

Julie's eyes turned amber in two seconds flat: "The hell you are!"

"Pardon?"

"You are not a werewolf. You do not smell like one… you smell like a man and a wolf, not a werewolf."

"It's how all werewolves smell." He answered stunned.

Stephan frowned : "Really? You might want to reconsider" he pointed vaguely in Julie's direction. "That's how they wild dogs smell. Except the underlying smell of human blood, which drives me crazy, of course."

Bill quickly got out his wand and ignoring their suddenly tense stance, he cast a cleaning charm on both of them. Some of the smell must have lingered, they had showers for that, but it was enough for the moment. _Stupid Bill, I should have realized it earlier!_

"Sorry about that" he mumbled "Bill Weasley, by the way."

Julie smiled although the effect was slightly ruined due to the still glowing eyes. The amber was slowly fading, however.

"Thank you. He does to, but he is a proud…how do you say, bugger?"

The green-eyed man turned to her scolding.

"Anyway, you still say that you are werewolf?"

"Of course I am. I am stronger than most people, my eyes turn amber, I forcefully transform when it's full moon. What can I be wrong about that?"

"You forcefully transform every time there's a full moon?"

She shared another look with the vampire.

"Ok" She drawled.

" We believe you." He announced then again exchanged glances with Julie.

"What happens to us if we confirm that we are not enemies?"

"We will release you and try to talk to you about joining us. Your choice will be yours, of course. We will also like to find answers to some questions. For example how old you are. "

Julie was content to just stare so the vampire found himself giving the answer.

"How do you know you're telling the truth? We're both sixteen."

"The oath you mentioned, if I am correct was used in ancient times, it is a general belief that it was lost…" Dumbledore said with his eyes twinkling madly and continued upon seeing their shrugs "…it can be applied to humans…" he waited for their nods "then we will take it."

"But first, you have to eat. I'm Molly Weasley dears. I'm sure you are starved!" Mrs Weasley was again in her mother hen mode. It was a fact of life, if there were teenagers, there was Molly Weasley ready to feed them.

The foreigners seemed to some to an understanding though glances and the conclusion was presented by the smoothly-talking vampire.

"If you do not mind, we would like for you to take that oath now. Only so we know you will not consciously interfere with out food. "

They waited in silence until Dumbledore smiled and nodded. The rest followed him shortly after that.

"It is very simple. You must relax, be honest and the magic will do everything for you. Take a knife and cut across each of your palms, from the thumb to the little finger."

"Should the knifes be special in any way? Is there a difference if they are conjured or not?"

"Conjured?"

"Created from a spell." Answered automatically the professor.

"You know your rituals Mr. Snape. " chuckled the vampire " We used to do it with real, golden knives, but I always though it was a vampire pride thing. Ah, Julie?"

The werewolf in question laughed amusedly: "It was. It shouldn't matter. We can't conjure anything but the only physical thing that matters is the cut, it has to be deep enough to draw blood and across the palm."

"There. Now put your palms together, fingers outstretched. The purpose is to mingle the blood from one hand with the blood from the other, to create a circle of magical flow, which is tied to your blood, in your upper body. Now say that you won't interfere with our food. There is no need to state your full name, to you're your chest or to scream it. It is an oath you make to your magic, not to us. She has to accept it and she knows you better than anyone else. She will not let you cheat. "

Bursts of coloured light flared all around the room. Seven to be exact.

"Why don't you try honesty Mr. Snape "drawled the werewolf, her eyes again, amber. "And, of course, Mr.…?"

"Kingsley Shackelbot ." he answered embarrassed at being caught. And indeed two more flames of different colours appeared.

"Now let's eat, shall we?" The vampire was grinning widely, fangs in plain sight, making his Romanian companion laugh and the others take a small step back.

_**A/N: Thank you for reading, please review!**_


	5. A surprise

_**A/N: Constructive criticism much appreciated!Thank you for reading :)!Lots and lots of hugs to **__**Quiditch-What a Wonderful Word!**_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Harry Potter verse._

**JUMP IN LINE **

**Chapter 5:A surprise**

"Um… some water, a stake and ...um, an apple, please." smiled pleasantly the werewolf.

"Anything young and not intoxicated or drugged will do. " smirked her vampire companion.

"Just when I thought we weren't so different."

"Ha ha."

"Just that dear? I am sure I can find more than that, surely you must be hungry. Let's see… you haven't asked for anything sweet…I don't know what you're used to, but I can make great pies or… cakes if that is what you prefer."

Stephan snorted.

"What she asked is exactly what she is used to. I am actually surprised you asked for apples, I would have imagined there were a luxury for you."

She calmly turned her head: "Excuse us for not having blue-eyed, blonde virgins for dinner every Sunday."

"What in the world made you think we had _that_?"

"What in the world made you think _apples_ were a luxury?"

Eyes were watching the pair as they exchanged glares then, surprisingly, shake their heads and smile. They made an interesting pair, lots of eye contact, lots of arguments, but an interesting pair nonetheless.

Molly swiftly entered the room carrying the required food, plates and silverware. Although she respected her wishes, the quantity was hugely adjusted. The woman stopped and looked at Dumbledore, dilemma written clearly in her eyes. He conjured a table and a chair in the cage, ignoring his tense audience and spelled some bars off. After he levitated the food inside he replaced the bars and smiled indulgently at the young werewolf. She, on the other hand, seemed to have her attention captured by what appeared to be two small mountains, one of apples and the other one of steak. The huge jug filled with water looked like it could hydrate the population of a small school. Slowly, she rose from her bed, looked again at the mountain of food, shook her head, laughed softly and taking an apple she returned to her bed.

"I admit I am hungry, but that's…" she laughed again " what about Mr. Matei over there?"

"I-It was decided yesterday that should you need…a…um…"

"Food?" The vampire was more than amused, but held his laughter. He supposed it could be pretty disturbing for them.

"Yeah, I was to be you're a…um…"

"Food?"

"Y-yes. I hope it is convenient for you. I'm not drunk and I'm not a druggie. I-I don't know if I fit the age though and you might not …" she took a deep breath " I'm shutting up now."

He laughed slightly. A full-blown laughter begged release but he decided to be sympathetic. Now what to answer… His thoughts ranged from 'you're fine' to 'you'd be delicious' but all sounded more than cheesy. Dammit, he wasn't used to talking to his food. It either screamed or emptily gazed at thin air. He finally went for 'It's ok.'

Tonks shyly got closer to the bars and with Dumbledore's help in the cage. All the members of the Order were on high alert. After all that was the reason they were all present. Vampires drank all kinds of blood but only human, especially wizard blood was truly nutritious. It had something to do with the energy magic carried but its actual importance had been lost to wizards over the years. Usually, vampires were able to stop without endangering their victims and could, if needed erase their memory though an, again, unknown process. The actual killings only occurred if the vampire was in deep hunger, otherwise known as bloodlust or really wanted to kill the victim. To avoid any danger Dumbledore decided to have his most trusted followers present.

Slowly, the now platinum blonde woman approached the vampire and sat next to him on the bed. She hesitantly tugged at the collar of her shirt to better expose her neck and leaned her head back a bit. Julie had stopped eating. Stephan smiled tenderly than softly said:

"We're not lovers…your wrist?"

With a howl of laughter Julie fell off the bed. Ready to bite into the wrist Stephan looked from a blushing, now redhead Tonks to a gasping Julie.

"Oh goshhhhh she looked like a virgin bride on her wedding night." More laughter. "And she was marrying The Beast."

Slowly Stephan started shaking much to the aggravation of Tonks and the Order. Was he that upset over her behavior? His head was lowered and his eyes hidden from sight. Slowly his shaking increased and he burst out laughing. Loudly, freely, like he had only a few times in his life. He laughed clearly and elegantly as only a vampire could without looking altogether girly.

"I-I am sorry" he gasped, "you were just too funny. Anyway…" he paused a bit with obvious difficulty. The only sound in the room was the loud laughter of the werewolf "you can blame her for laughing in the first place. I think I would have managed to keep a serious face without that awful laughter. " He looked at Julie again. Tonks did the same. She had to admit that the hearty laughter was bit contagious. Her eyes shifted to Stephan and their eyes met. One, two, three seconds passed before they burst into laughter. The Order hesitantly laughed too, but had the feeling that they didn't really get the joke.

Slowly and gingerly lifting herself to her feet, the brunette addressed the pair on the bed.

"Hey, let's eat!"

Tonks offered her hand smiling and he laughed one more time before gently piercing the skin.

"It is more sensual if they bite the neck, as you can probably imagine. Now he only releases sufficient thingy from his fangs to avoid hurting you." explained the teenage girl.

"Thingy?" said an amused and relaxed Tonks.

"I only know the basics." Admitted Julie moving the chair so she could face the room and have her back to the wall. Then pleadingly: "Do you want something to eat?"

"An apple?"

The metamorphous caught the apple with her free hand and smiled to a delighted Julia. "He won't mind, will he?"

"No, I'm fine. " the redhead stopped for a few seconds. "It's probably best if you eat something anyway, wouldn't want you to pass out or something. I won't take that much blood, but since you're a good-looking woman I don't know how much you actually eat to stay like that."

She nodded; she could understand where he was coming from.

"Hey!" shouted the black-eyed teenager around a mouthful of steak. The vampire analyzed her pensively and sighted. "Then again…" He shrugged and dug in yet again. Giggling, Tonks took a bite from her apple.

* * *

"It seems we've managed to gain a bit of your trust."

"Hm?"

"Well, " drawled Julie glaring viciously at an apple, then apparently satisfied, biting into it "the werewolf, Mr. Snape and the two younger redheads are gone. "

"Ah, they" answered Dumbledore "are off to retrieve something."

She nodded then shrugged " Nonetheless, I'm glad."

"Was the food any good dear?"

"Yeah, thank you. It was delicious as you probably could tell from how much I ate."

Seeing her blush had the power to triple the size of Molly's heart. What a wonderful child.

"Nonsense. You barely touched it."

"I ate two steaks and three apples. How can that be barely touching it?!" Julie's agape mouth made the vampire snicker. He was doing that too often ."Anyway, it was great to eat." He announced accompanied by the enthusiastic nods of the other prisoner. "I feel as if I regained all my powers, truly wonderful." He ruffled Tonks hair gratefully as she got out of the cage.

"All your powers? Are you serious?" the werewolf groaned. " I think I ate too much. 'm sleepy now."

She lifted herself from the table, grabbed the knife and cut her palms. With a swift movement she threw the knife to the vampire who easily caught it and followed her earlier movements.

"I am not loyal to Voldemort."

"I do not respond to Voldemort."

Two flashes of light later, the wizards felt safer. Maybe there was still hope for their world.

"Now that should be it." she continued. "Can I please be left to sleep?"

The Order nodded in unison and got out of the room, the lock clicking in place after them. Maybe they should have thought again about that knife.

* * *

"…. Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty!"

Julie started removing her clothes at a fast pace and before Stephan could blink twice a medium seized gray wolf was slipping through the bars that separated them, then finally into the rest of the room. He quickly grabbed her clothes and threw them through the bars. After reverting to her human self and hurriedly getting dressed, the werewolf concentrated for a few seconds and small bolts of static energy were playing across her hands. She gripped two cell bars and hoped that it would have the desired effect to take the spell off of them for a bit. The brunette crunched low as the booted foot of the vampire struck the bars, effectively bending them. He stepped over her, run to the door and with the help of the hairpins he got from Tonks' hair picked the lock. It was a very happy coincidence that she had them seeing as their plan of escape was quite shabby. Finally the door slid open.

Using the muggle way meant that they wouldn't have to break the actual spell and alert them of their escape. He swiftly moved through the dark and climbed some steps that seemed to be leading out. He came to a trap door in the ceiling, which revealed an unlit hallway. The loss of light did little to affect the accuracy of his sight and slowly moving around he found a large, wooden door. An entrance door. Their escape. He lowered the trap door and ran through the dark back to the cage.

"We're in the basement, next to the entrance door. Strong, metal bolts."

Julie nodded, let go of the bars and they both broke a run for the exit. Soon enough, alarms started blaring signaling that they indeed had had alarms on the bars. Fortunately, due to their heightened speed, they were already at the hatch when that happened. As they were less than two meters from the door five people entered, the four members that had left early and a dark haired boy. With a burst of speed, the werewolf jumped and caught Snape in the jaw with a punch, twisted and caught Charlie with a high kick. Immediately after her, Stephan's knee hit its target, Bill's stomach. He quickly stepped behind the teenager, sliding the knife to his throat and growled to their werewolf: "Don't move."

The teenage werewolf violently threw the door open, her left hand already glowing red. After waiting for the vampire and their hostage to get through the door, she closed it in the stunned, terrified and/or enraged faces of four order members before they could be joined by their companions. Stephan pinned his feet to the ground and pushed his body against the door, holding the hostage close, as the wizards threw various unlocking spells to the door. Julie was meanwhile using her overheated hand to melt the bolts and the door lock, blending them together, then cooling them with her now icy right hand.

"I smell a forest nearby. "

Stephan nodded, threw their hostage over his shoulder and took off running. The teenage girl followed him after she touched the wooden door with her hand, lighting it on fire.

Sweet freedom.

_**A/N: Now, this is where I say 'Thank you for reading, please review!' and where you totally ignore it, whether you liked it or not, and go back to your business. Lovely really. Sweet almost.Right. So how is it ? Is it bad, good, stupid, idiotic? Are you guys really that busy that you can't review? Maybe soon I will hold the record for the story with the most chapters and least reviews. I know you read this, they have reader traffic for that, so why the heck don't you review? **_

_**This was a rant. A tame one. Have a good day. :)**_


	6. A ride

**_A/N: Constructive criticism much appreciated!Thank you for reading :)! Hugs to _**Phoenix4life**_ !_**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Harry Potter verse._

**JUMP IN LINE **

**Chapter 6: A ride **

"We lost them."

"We did?"

"Yeah. "

"…"

"I hope so anyway."

"Comforting."

"Hey, Stef?"

"Stefan, but yeah?"

"Why did you take him with us?"

"Um…"

"Right. You can at least put him down."

Harry felt his feet hit the ground and his back what seemed to be a tree. He was in his usual state of numbness. Usual for the last two months that is. He did the only thing he could, numb as he was; he slowly slipped till he hit the ground.

It was a bit funny though, it felt like he now had to remember himself that he didn't care. In the last fifteen minutes he had managed to be more awake than he had been the entire summer. Somehow, he felt like he was disappointing Sirius by caring again. So he tried not to, but that too felt odd. It just didn't come naturally anymore.

"Is he sick or something?"

A girl's voice. He had no idea what she was saying.

"Hey, are you sick?" The same voice, the right language. Somebody snorted.

"Don't mind Iulia, she's not very bright. Are you ok?" A male voice, probably the same guy who carried him. He spoke a different language before so he couldn't be sure. The girl said something, seemingly annoyed. He couldn't understand a thing, but those had got to be the dumbest kidnapers in the world.

"Excuse me?" Damn, he had said that out loud. He raised his head to look at her, his lazy movements the only thing that remained from his previous dead-man walking state_. 'Sorry Sirius.' _He opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't really find something smart so he just closed it again. Even smarter.

He took in his kidnapers. Two teenagers, a girl with black hair and eyes and a boy with deep read hair and light green eyes. Good-looking, maybe strong. One very… earthly and the other… the opposite. Odd. Since when was 'earthly' in his vocabulary? Well, it fit.

"You just didn't seem very smart." He finally said.

"That's the second time someone calls you less than intelligent in the course of 2 minutes." directed the redhead towards the girl seemingly ignoring Harry and the fact that he was included in the second instance.

"I am a firm believer in not following the crowd." She snapped back.

"What do we do with him?"

She shrugged and turned towards Harry: "Hey, what do you want to do?"

Harry blinked. The other boy slapped a hand against his forehead.

A second. Five seconds. Ten seconds. Apparently the unearthly one decided that the suggestion was not so stupid after all. That or he didn't have a better one. Probably the latter .Sadly, now Harry had to answer. What did he want? His first thought was to demand to be set free. But he had no idea where he was or how to go back. Added to that, he wasn't exactly restrained. He could ask them to return him to the Order but he really did not want that. Hogwarts? Full of Order members. The Burrow? The same, plus he didn't want to endanger the Weasleys. He had nowhere to go.

"I dunno." He finally answered. The redhead slapped himself once more:

"God, how did the three of us end up together?"

Shrugging all around.

"I'm Iulia, Julie, whatever." The girl said as she plopped down ."I'm a werewolf."

"Harry. Wizard. What kind of name is Iulia?"

"Romanian. I'm Stefan, or Stephan if you can't pronounce the first one." he seemed to consider the possibility of sitting on the ground, but thought better of it and leaned against a tree. "I'm a vampire."

Harry's gaze immediately snapped up to him. He had seen werewolves before, namely Prof. Lupin, but never vampires. Stefan seemed…not hungry, he decided. Said satiated vampire chuckled.

"What?" demanded Iulia.

"First opinion: he seems not hungry." Stefan answered.

"You read my thoughts?" asked the wizard horrified.

"Yes." The vampire lazily smiled. "And no. I don't read them, I hear them."

"The difference?"

"It doesn't work every time." laughed the werewolf.

Rolling his eyes the vampire explained : " I hear what you think, and just that. I don't know all that you know and I can't find out. For example, one of the men you came with, Snape, I think. He thought 'Ve-something-serum' at some point. I don't know what it is, even though he does and I can't find out from his mind. But I could feel the malice that went with the thought. "

"Yeah, it's a potion that forces you to answer and to tell the truth no matter the question. " Harry explained absent-mindedly waiting for him to continue.

" I can also project thoughts if the person doesn't shield their mind. I saw some of the wizards blocking theirs. I can do it only when I don't keep my mind open to hear thoughts, so I barely do it, and Iulia here does it 'cause she's paranoid."

"Wizards can get into your mind, can see your memories and search for something in particular. They basically dive into your mind, and it can be painful." He repressed a shudder and wondered why he was telling them so much. Somehow, the fact that he talked to total strangers took the edge off. He found himself almost trusting them for some reason." How can you block your mind? "he asked raven-haired girl.

"It's simple. Any werewolf can learn to do it. Humans should be able to do it too. You just stretch your mind until it becomes nothing. It's sort of hiding it, making it become a part of the world, making it impossible to know where the mind starts and the air, water, the nature begins. You just…let it fade I guess. "

"That oddly makes sense. Although I am not completely sure I understand."

"Well, in the end it's not that important." Stefan concluded.

"How come? Wizards do the nastiest things to each other through it."

"Well, it's stupid. It's your mind. Nobody can beat you in your mind. You just have to take control. It's much more dangerous to go into somebody else's mind."

The vampire seemed sincere but the words were mind-blowing. Just stand up and take over? Was it really that simple?

"Hey, I wanted to ask you something."

Harry was pulled away from his thoughts by the werewolf's voice.

"What do you know about werewolves?"

What an odd question. "Um…when a person is bit by a transformed werewolf and survives is then… well, infected is the most common term. He forcefully transforms when is full moon and becomes an uncontrollable monster. We, that is, the wizards developed a potion that kind of numbs the werewolf during full moon so he or she can be locked somewhere. The idea is not to endanger anybody else. I…" Harry trailed off looking at the girl hesitantly "I kind of think there is more to it . You see, I know somebody who used to have his human friends in animal bodies, they are called animagus and it's had to be able to do it…" His audience nodded, gripping the concept, eyes mesmerized "Anyway, they stayed with him when he was in wolf form and he was himself, not some kind of possessed monster."

Iulia looked sick. Stefan looked at her with understanding eyes.

"Hey, are you alright? What did I say?"

"Most of us are born werewolves. We can transform anytime we want. Since I can remember, I was one with my wolf. I suppose I am a more crude kind of human, never been able to completely pull the whole society things with its norms. I am somewhere between the animal world and the human world, the link. I have elemental powers because of it. I love nature more than anything and it trusts me enough to lend me some of its powers. I can't imagine being caged like that. I … I thought they were just fairy tales meant to keep pups at home. In our country they are called lone wolves because they don't belong to large families like we do. They are supposed to be wilder. But caged? I-I…" she choked a bit "I never imagined it was true. We value freedom most of all."

CRACK!

"Shit!" Harry jumped to his feet.

"Wizards. That's how apparitions sound, that's how some of them travel. "

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Partially hidden by tree trunks, the three watched as people in black robes and white masks gushed from thin air. The sight was disturbingly familiar to all of them.

"Death Eaters." whispered Harry.

"Who?" asked a tense Iulia.

"Voldemort's people. You know Voldemort, right?"

"Mhmm." was all Stefan said.

The Death Eaters kept coming. There about twenty of them and showed no signs of stopping.

"We've got to go before we're circled." whispered the vampire.

The three turned and ran in the only direction they could. The way they came.

"They're smoking us out." realized Harry.

"Huh?" Iulia was not the most eloquent person at times.

"It's pretty dangerous to appear in the forest. You could hit a tree or something. They are drawing us in the open. They'll probably circle us there. And we're sitting ducks in the open."

"Well, let's see to it that they can't circle us." And with that Iulia lit her arms. "Duck" she warned before starting throwing fireballs behind them, making a barricade of fire. The boys were forced to take shelter behind a tree. Apparently the fire balls had a small exploding quality making debris fall all over the place. Also, the scorching heat was not good for health.

Leaning, the redhead took a peek at the fight. The wizards had started putting out the fires and the werewolf was viciously directing more fireballs towards them.

"It won't hold them off for forever. Let's go." He got up from the tree and started running again, dragging Harry along with him.

"But Iulia!"

"She can run a lot faster than you. She'll join us in a minute."

Indeed, after a few more paces, she was beside them, lighting some more trees.

"We've got to help her!" said Harry desperately, again shielded by the rough bark.

The vampire nodded. "But I can't attack from a distance."

"I can. But-" Harry stopped , disgusted that he was hesitating but also remembering the incident the previous year.

"But what?!"

"But I'll get expelled and my wand will be broken!" he worried over his lower lip. He had no doubts that he will eventually give. Eventually. He would be a dead man without his wand.

"Don't you have self defense? What if you get expelled!? Is there only a school in the whole world?! Can't you buy another wand?!" yelled Stefan over the cracking of tree trunks and the swishing of fire. Well, if you put it that way…

Harry slid his wand out of his jeans' pocket and got out of his hiding place, a plan already forming in his head.

"Can you burn moving targets?" he shouted to Iulia.

She turned around for half a second, surprised then nodded, her head already turning towards the fast approaching wizards.

"Burn this then! _Expelliarmus ! Accio wands!" _He fired in quick succesion making a cluster of wands fly through the air towards them only to be met by three sphears of fire.The wands fell to the ground, burning.

"I don't think I got all their wands."

"Yeah, let's move then." agreed the werewolf.

After joining with a now smiling Stefan they ran the last twenty meters of forest and all the way into the small town. They finally stopped, allowing Harry to catch his breath.

"You run pretty fast for a human ." the vampire observed.

"T-thanks." managed the teenage wizard though deep breaths.

CRACK!CRACK!CRACK!

"Oh no!" moaned Harry looking up the street where more Death Eaters were appearing. "What now?"

"Car!" shouted Iulia poiting to a car parked on the opossite side of the road, a few houses down, towards the Death Eaters. They all turned and ran towards it.

"Can you drive?" asked Stefan.

"Um…no. But I can unlock it . And start it if you still have that pin!"

"And then what? Lock the windows and doors and ask them to leave us alone?!" The redheads sarcastic comment was ruined by the fact that he kept running towards it.

"I can drive!"offered Harry.

"Great!" replied the girl, slaming a hand travelled by small bolts of energy into the handle of the front passenger's door. The car beeped and she threw herself in follwed shortly by Harry entering the driver's door and Stefan making himself comfortable in the back. "Pin." she ordered. The Death Eaters were closing in. She shoved the pin in the ignition, sent a bolt of energy through it and turned it.

"Yay!" she cheered. At the same time Stefan yelled "Damn. Move." when the back window gave up under a spell, showering him in glass. Screeching, the car sped away from the Death Eaters.

"Are you ok?" asked the driver worriedly after fifteen minutes, sure that they managed to lose them.

"Yeah." answered the vampire getting the glass out of his hair and from his clothes.

Silence.

A minute passed.

Silence.

Another minute.

Harry again felt the need to say something:

"How the hell did they find us?"

_**A/N: REVIEWWWWWW!! Thank you for reading! REVIEW!**_


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